A good cleanse!

I had no idea what I had gotten my hands on the first time I tried this cleanse! 

I guess I didn't know all the benefits of prebiotics and the 25 foods and concentrates that help support and detox  my body!!! 

It totally resets and rebalances the body. It is made to use once a month but can be used more often if needed. I have been using it once a month and each time I feel more and more energized. 

Some people use it as a weight loss helper and others are using it as a detox and rebalancing the body.   I love knowing I am taking care of me so I can be a better wife and mom! 

Read about it here!   and here!

Can you love more than one Mommy?

Do you remember the day that you found out you were pregnant or about to adopt  your second child?

Did you ever feel ....How could you ever love any little person as you have loved already?   Then the moment you hold that sweet second baby the love just grows so much. There are no words to describe the deep love as a mother. The "mother bear" mode comes out of you if think of one of your children are getting hurt or in any kind of dilemma.   The love is fierce and bold.  It seems that deep love just deepens as they grow into adults.  

So why can't a child love more than one mom?  Why is it a common question if I feel jealous when we see our birth family?   "First moms" or  "Second moms" domestic adoption doesn't have to be hard.  It's just more people to love the growing child!  

Can we catch up?

The letter came home in her backpack. It's something I pushed, prayed, cried,  argued, and wanted but why was I paralyzed by the words IEP meeting.  Her scores from her IQ test sent me to my knees in tears. The scores stabbed my heart. Can we catch up?   My time left with her before she is an adult is short. I only have 8 years left. 

How come I could not help fix her?  I adopted her. I am her mom. I had all the formal education. I was skilled in all the things to do and NOTHING I did worked.  I took her to therapy. I read, fussed, cried, took her to a tutor, came to school early for help, prayed for answers. Every teacher in her school that crossed her path worked with her by staying late, coming early and going above and beyond.  The 31/2 years since I became her mom flashed in front of my eyes. I exhausted all my energy and resources and could NOT teach her like I could teach other children.  I was so frustrated. 

She related to other teachers and not me. BUT why. I was her mom. She related to me on other things. Why couldn't I teach her to read? She made small gains but regressed so quickly. She retained little and could read some but NOT enough to satisfy me as a mom!   I need her to read so she can be a successful adult. I want her to have a life that is not inhibited by this problem. I want her confident and to feel certain in all situations just like I want all my children. 

I was giving myself mixed signals. I wanted the Individual education Plan...YET I didn't. I wanted it to go away. I wanted to be able to do it on my own. Yet, I knew I couldn't. 

How can I be a mom to a child that can make a 32 on an ACT and then I can't teach this one to read. I was so conflicted in my heart. Motherhood at it's finest.  Motherhood at it's worse. I was so frustrated.  Should I push her harder? Am I not pushing her hard enough? What am I doing wrong? Where is God when I am praying for help? Why can't I get answers? 

Adoption is tricky. Bonding is tricky.  When I removed all homework and school work from our lives. She began to bond with me so much. Does this mean I don't push her to read more at home? 

Even reading for fun was a struggle but cooking with me was perfect. If I got the book out and cuddled with her on the couch to read Charlotte's web. She froze. If I asked her to read to the twins. She shut down. All things school did NOT work. 

I did research. Who says all children need to read by a certain age? I am a firm believer that all children do not grow and progress just because a book says they are suppose to by a certain age. Yes the average child walks at age one but some walk early or late. The same with reading.  BUT in my heart, I knew I needed help. We needed the resources. We need the IEP and more than the IEP. 

I never dreamed one of my own would need this yet I pushed for it. It's really a good thing so why was I so bothered. It's not shameful. This is not 1979 when learning problems were treated so different. I am an educator. I've been on the side of the teacher presenting the IEP to the parent, but to be on the side of the parent hearing your child's scores when you've worked so hard. It hurts. You hurt for them. One of your own struggling to learn and unable to find success hurts in a way that you can only understand by sitting in the parent chair. 

So, now I get it. Tears stained faces when parents leave IEP meetings. They want the IEP and help and all that it entails, but pain inside for their child. 

I'll be looking for new joy in this journey. I'll be hoping for a reading miracle. I'll be pushing forward and onward as I realized it really takes a village. 

Shouting it from the rooftops

2 1/2 years ago I said yes to the most amazing decision to join a company called It works global! 

2 years ago I hit the rank of Double diamond that is the average of 6K a month. Six months after joining this company our lives changed so much.

This is WHY I am still shouting it from the rooftops, from my social media, from my instagram, from my van when you see me driving down the road, from the shirts I wear or the shirts my kids wear, and more. When I say this company has been LIFE changing those are NOT even words that describe the way it feels to be able to make extra income with a side job like this!

When you say you are skeptical, so was I. When you say what if no one will buy it from you, I said it too. When you say I never tried these products how can I sell them, I never tried them either!

There's nothing I can say to make you change your mind. It took me a year to decide. I prayed so many times and the answer was GO join this company but I was still so skeptical! WHY do we fight against something so good?

It's just $99. But then I realized...it was more than $99...it was pride if I didn't do well. It was me scared to fail. It was all the what ifs.

There's ONE thing I can tell you for sure....if you are praying for a change. If you have been watching and kinda wanting to try but just NOT sure if this is the road you should take...then that's your answer! Try it! Jump in...give it all the extra energy you have for six months! Do it! There's NO gimmicks...NO extra catches...you can run this business for 20 bucks a month for a website fee. There is NO extra hidden cost of incidentals that you will get charged! 

#YES #tiredoflivingpaychecktopaycheck #struggle

BECAUSE....my friends...we were not made to just pay bills and DIE! 

LIFE was meant to be lived and if we are worried about bills all the time it's hard to do that!!!

#whatif #daretodream #sidejob #takechances #sayyes #adventurestartsHERE

When BABY number 9 JOINED our family Part 3

She really came as a shock! 

Through many miracles our first adoptions came to our family. Next we were blessed with our beautiful set a of twins! When I write this message here, I write this so vague. BUT I will tell you these adoptions were NOT easy. There were a lot of scary times and worry on our end and the birth families end as well. Maybe one day on another blog post I will go into more detail. The adoption days and the days leading up to their adoptions were some of the hardest days of my life. The trials were so hard and I remember thinking I was not strong enough many times.   There were days and nights that I didn't sleep at all in worry and leaned so heavily on the Lord for strength. 

The funny thing is that with each adoption I checked the birthday and I was actually a little shocked that none were Caucasian. I didn't care what race but my dream was always so heavy always in my mind! 

 The day our last baby came to us. I got a text from her birth mom and she needed help. I had not even considered taking her at that time. Our home was more than full. We had four new children and the demands of that was pretty heavy. I was teaching full time. I never considered even another adoption or an older child.   I agreed to take her for the weekend and help her find a home. My mind was very busy and I never even prayed to see if she was mine!  I began searching for a great home for her so that we could remain in close contact.  I asked her birth mom for all of her information. As I read the text with her birthday I almost FREAKED!  I literally dropped the phone. I thought I was reading the information wrong.  Tears literally ran down my face as I reread her text. The entire way had been paved for me and I missed it! All these sweet angels came one at a time and she was the one I'd been searching for all this time. I started praying to know for sure if she was mine. She was so much older than the others at adoption. Would she be ok? Would we be able to bond properly? I was so worried about so much.  As I prayed the scripture stood out in my mind,  2 Timothy 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

I never looked back after that day and the peace I feel to finally find her! She came home to us. The journey to number 9 has been the most interesting journey of all our adoptions. It has had many bumps and continues to have some hills to climb. We know she belongs here. She is without a doubt our number 9! The sweetheart in my dream! She sings, dances, and finds joy in all things. We are so blessed by her and being her second mom is such an adventure!!! 

The best part of working from HOME

This morning my sweet Thomas came into my room and said he just wasn't feeling right! He felt hot to the touch. My mind instantly flashed back to a year ago. One of the kiddos would wake up after my husband left for work with sickness and it would be a whirlwind. I would have to figure out some sort of childcare arrangement. I would either have to make sub plans for my classroom at the last minute or call my husband back home from work.

In that moment I looked when I got to tell him to jump back in the bed and relax,  I felt that immediate peace and gratitude of being able to work from home. I love the flexibilty of snuggling an extra 45 minutes on the couch with him while he eats his gogurt.  Life goes so fast and it's so nice not to live like robots every day. When I started this little side job to make a few hundred dollars a month quitting my job was not my goal. I never thought of this as part of the game! What a joy it has been and the excitement  in the adventure!

Greens

First I drink my greens!

What are greens? 

First of all I had tried lots of alternative things to try to find natural energy! 

I was a busy teacher and mom exhausted at the end of the day! Actually I was pretty tired at the beginning of the day! When I found the greens I didn't realize they would provide energy! 

In fact, they did not right away! As my body began to balance and about a week or two after I began drinking them I noticed a huge difference. One month after I began drinking them the changes were incredible! 

Today I never miss a day! 

Veggies and probiotics changed my life! 

They balanced my life and gave me life back! 

Dutch Apple Cobbler

Dutch Apple Cobbler

This is one of our family favorite camping or backyard fun recipes! It's so good to serve with vanilla ice cream! 

Ingredients

2 cans (21 oz) apple pie filling (brand of choice)

12 oz Caffeine free Dr Pepper or 2 cans root beer soda

1 whole stick butter cubed

1 yellow cake mix or butter recipe

Cinnamon

Heat 28 briskets

For the fastest clean up line the dutch oven with foil and add the apple pie filling! 

Add cinnamon generously! 

Add cake mix and cube butter over the top evenly!

Pour 12 Oz. of soda over the top! 

Put the lid on with the heated coals.  18 heated coals on top and 10 heated coals under.

Cook for 45 minutes!

Enjoy!!!!